Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 20,212 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 41.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,954 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,212 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Shell were worth $4,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 1,293.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,898 shares of the energy company's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 6,403 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 49,940 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,348,000 after buying an additional 2,932 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 4,255 shares of the energy company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the 1st quarter worth about $383,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Shell by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,840 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares during the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SHEL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Shell in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Citigroup upgraded Shell to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upgraded Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Shell from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Shell Price Performance

SHEL traded down $1.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.06. 4,155,931 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,537,216. Shell plc has a twelve month low of $60.34 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The company has a market cap of $208.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.37.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.688 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.58%.

Shell Profile

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market.